The Bucket List

One thing that I would encourage of everyone, have a bucket list of food items that you would like to try as well as restaurants that you would like to eat at. It don't have to be anything crazy, although I hope it is, and it don't have to be an expensive restaurant. When my wife and I are planning 'Date Nights', 'Family Vacations', 'Weekend Getaways' and even the occasional business trip that she'll accompany me on, we start googling the restaurants in the area. A great tool, if you watch Food Network, is the show 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives'. I hit pay dirt one time just outside of Anaheim CA with a little mom and pop Italian restaurant called 'Mama Cozza's'. I had seen it on triple d so when we were there we thought that we would give it a try and it didn't disappoint.


Now over the years my bucket list has gotten smaller, which it should because I'm always trying to check stuff off but I'll also add items along the way. My latest addition of things to try is squid ink
(I get a lot of items from watching Andrew Zimmern). I saw him eating it one day and thought I would like to give it a try. A few days later, I had squid ink pasta delivered to right my door. Amazon is pretty cool... you can get anything you want from them.

The Nduja, will be the base of the pasta sauce. Its a spicy, spreadable pork salami that I'll combine with tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, fresh chopped parsley and shrimp. My whole family is anxious to try this one and I for one cant wait.


Just a few more of my 'bucket list' items that I have knocked off over the years include Sea Urchin, Goat, Fried Grasshoppers, Fried Grub Worms, Calf Fries, Tripe, Rattlesnake, Turtle, Marmite (vegemite), Chitterlings and Souse Meat just to name a few. I've always said, I'll eat anything that don't crawl too fast. If I can catch it, I'll eat it and most of these listed are not a one and done. I'll continue to eat them regularly, if they're on the menu.




Nicole and I were on our way home from somewhere and the 'Men at Work' song came on the radio. Next thing you know, I'm at the grocery store buying 'Marmite' (the same a vegemite). You remember the line in the song "He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich". Marmite is a spreadable yeast extract that's very popular in Australia and from all that I have read, its an acquired taste and you either love it or hate it. But that's not true, everyone at my house tried it that night and 3 out of the 4 (including me) came to the conclusion that we could take it or leave it. Its wasn't bad at all, just a little strong. We didn't make a sandwich with it, not really. We just had it on a piece of buttered toast. If you try this, don't be heavy handed with it... Crawl before you walk !!!

Someone told me last week that as much as I like to try new things that I should try the game 'Bean Boozled'. I'm sure it would be a tremendous amount of fun and I can only imagine just how hard we would laugh but for the life of me, I have no desire to eat a jelly bean that taste like ear wax...or dog food...or dead fish...or skunk spray...or spoiled milk.


With that being said I would like to let everyone know that my two oldest daughters are my partners in crime, when it comes to eating stuff that's really out there. Shelby and Ashleigh are a lot like me and will try anything once. My wife Nicole will get out there with me sometimes but she has defiantly drawn a line in the sand. No innards of any kind... She's not eating liver, kidneys, tripe, chitterlings or anything else form the inside of an animal.


When you make your list, that don't mean that you have to sit down and eat a whole plate of anything. I had rather pick blackberries naked than eat a whole plate of Sea Urchin. That's possibly the worst thing that I've ever eaten and it didn't taste that bad. I cant get over the texture but hey, that's just me.


As far as a list of restaurants, just do some research. One of the coolest places we've eaten at in a while just came up in a conversation between me and a friend of mine. We were talking about eating out and he suggested we try the 'Yellow Deli' in Pulaski TN.

Now this is a really cool place that's open 24 hours a day (mon - thurs). They close on Friday afternoons at 3 pm and re-open on Sunday at noon. My favorite combination is the 'Deli Rose' sandwich with a bowl of 'Beefy Lintle' soup. They have root beer on tap and the sodas are all natural. The bread is baked fresh as well as the desserts. At the register, you'll also find a good selection of homemade goodies, soaps, lotions, teas, toothpaste and candles (all made by the owners).

Now, go get you a list !!! Get you a list of places to go and things to try and by all means, HAVE FUN WITH IT....